


The Universe has Talent

by greenteafiend



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Pidge's wants to test the prototype she built for her thesis, they're in a band
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 02:55:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21403006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenteafiend/pseuds/greenteafiend
Summary: Well.If you hook your band's instruments up to a contraption that's meant to send a signal out beyond the boarders of Earth's solar system for theexpress purposeof getting aliens to hear your beats, it really shouldn't come as a surprise when they answer.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	The Universe has Talent

“What’s this?_ ” _ Keith’s eyes traced what was once Pidge’s parents’ tidy garage and was now their usual space for band practice. It looked as if it had suffered an infestation of technology—wires with dozens of tiny blinking lights creeping across the walls like vines; the floor almost entirely overrun with stacked, whirring, machines— _ servers _, Keith’s brain supplied. 

Pidge’s answering grin held a sharp edge of mania, and she practically _ vibrated _with excitement, shifting from foot to foot like her body contained too much energy for her to bear standing still.

“You’re looking at my first prototype, boys, and it’s ready for _ testing!” _she crowed, waving an arm at the prototype (mess) like they were meant to understand. 

Keith looked at Lance, and got an equally blank look in return—oh good, it wasn’t just him. 

“Wow, that’s amazing, Pidge!” Hunk exclaimed.

“Are you sure this is… safe?” Shiro questioned, voice skeptical.

“I know right? And no!” Pidge cried happily, pointing at Hunk, and then Shiro, as she answered them. “We’re gonna be the first thing they hear.” Pidge rubbed her hands together with glee. 

There was a beat of silence.

“Is it just me or has Pidge finally OD’d on science?” Lance remarked.

“The first thing _ who _hears?” Keith asked, disregarding Lance’s comment. 

“Whoever’s out there to listen!”

“Uh, question?” Lance raised a hand like he was in a classroom, “Are you talking about _ aliens _, Pidge?” 

“I’m talking about_ anything _ and _ everything _that’s out there. This machine has the capacity to amplify any message far beyond our solar system.” 

“You want us to play something,” Shiro said, understanding dawning on his face. 

The formation of their little group had been for Shiro’s benefit, who’d struggled after the accident that took his arm to find pleasure in the activities he’d been able to do with ease before. Having a creative outlet had been good for him. Plus, with a prosthetic attachment that ended in a drumstick, and a few adjustments to his drum-kit, Shiro had been able to play just as well as before. It had quickly snowballed into a way for all of them to unwind and escape from the pressure and stress of life.

Pidge played the keyboard, an old thing that looked like it was built in the 80s that she’d picked up in a thrift shop, and tinkered back to health. Ostensibly, she’d joined because she didn’t want the years of enforced piano lessons to go to waste. Really it was for Shiro. 

Hunk was easily the best musician amongst them—he could probably play everyone else’s instruments better than they could—but no one else knew how to play bass guitar, so that’s what Hunk did. 

Lance played lead. He wasn’t too shabby considering that he’d never taken formal lessons, and everything he knew was from messing around and playing things by ear, although his membership of their band seemed to be mostly so that he could _ say _ he was in a band as a talking point with cute girls. 

That left Keith on vocals. Lance was very fond of saying that Keith was only their frontman because he couldn’t play any musical instruments—which was _ true _—but he wasn’t a bad singer. He’d been shy at first, of singing in front of an audience, but Shiro had been encouraging, and Keith had badly wanted to support him. 

They had built up a decent repertoire.

“We can send _ one _song,” Pidge confirmed. 

“What should we play?” Hunk asked, stroking his chin.

“It’s gotta be something an alien could listen to, and know we come in peace, right?” Lance said. 

“It also has to be something we already know how to play,” Keith interjected.

“That shortens our short-list a lot,” Hunk said. 

“Guys… I got it.” Everyone turned to Shiro. They gave him their full attention, and he told them his suggestion. 

“It’s perfect,” Pidge breathed. 

They got to setting themselves up in the tiny islands of space Pidge had generously left for them between the servers, letting her tweak their positions for optimal sound quality. 

“Alright, I’m gonna hit record in a second, then you introduce us, Keith, and count us in.” 

Keith nodded, gripping his microphone tightly. Pidge gave him a thumbs up, and Keith took a deep breath…

_ If you’re hearing this, we’re from Earth, and we’re gonna play a song for you… _

* * *

Keith’s phone buzzed in his pocket, but he ignored it, determined to finish his reading. He needed to understand the principles of gravitational lensing like, last week. 

But then his phone buzzed again, and _ again. _

With an irritated groan, Keith gave in and pulled it out, thumbing open the group chat.

Pidge: GUYS

I NEED YOUR HELP

ANSWER ME!!!

Shiro: What’s wrong?

Pidge: MATT MADE A BREAKTHROUGH IN HIS RESEARCH 

Shiro: That’s great! 

Pidge: HE EXTENDED HIS STAY

Lance: he’s gonna spend winter in antarctica? gross

Pidge: IT MEANS RENTS ARE COMING BACK EARLY SEEING AS THEY WON’T BE MEETING HIM IN NZ ANYMORE. NEED HELP

Shiro: With what?

Hunk: lol imagine Mrs Holt’s face when she sees what Pidge did to the garage. 

Lance: omg 

pidge you dead 

Hunk: Mr Holt might appreciate it?

Lance: yeah but lbr, who’s in charge?

Pidge: SHE WILL KILL ME

Hunk: Is the capslock necessary? Feels like you’re yelling at us. 

Shiro: So what did you need us to help with?

Lance: disposing of the svidence 

Hunk: Disposing of the evidence.

Lance: JINX

Pidge: I gotta shift the whole operation to Professor Iverson’s lab.

Keith tapped his screen to open the keypad.

Keith: When and where?

* * *

Keith rolled up on his motorbike—the last to arrive—and pulled off his helmet, tucking it under one arm, and jogging over to the front door. When he knocked, it swung open freely. 

Even though that wasn’t too odd—after all, the others knew he was coming and could have purposefully left the door unlocked for him—Keith got a funny feeling in his gut.

“Hello? I’m here,” he called, cautiously stepping over the threshold. He peeked around the corner into the living room, and gasped in shock. His helmet fell from his nerveless fingers, landing with an echoing thud on the tiles.

It looked as if the room had been hit with a bomb. The couches were overturned, a vase shattered on the floor. The coffee table looked as if someone had fallen on it, and the TV lay face down on the floor.

The terror was immediate—filling Keith’s heart, and shooting adrenaline through his veins—as worst case scenarios flickered in his mind like a horrifying film reel. What had happened here?

“_ Shiro?! Pidge?! Hunk?! Lance?! _” Keith tore through the house, calling their names desperately, broken glass crunching under his boots. 

Kitchen: Fridge open, food spilling onto the floor, drawers pulled out, utensils scattered.

Pidge’s room: Bed overturned, drawers laying on their side, paper scattered everywhere.

Bathroom: Taps running. Shower curtain ripped. 

“No, no, _ no,” _Keith chanted to himself, heart pounding, hands shaking. He was ice cold down to his bones, because this looked like—like— 

Someone cleared their throat behind him, and Keith spun so fast he gave himself whiplash. 

At first glance it was a man with orange hair and an orange moustache. On closer inspection, Keith had a wild notion that he was looking at someone that wasn’t from Earth. Someone _ alien. _ His clothes were _ weird— _like something out of a fantasy novel—he had strange turquoise markings on his face, and his ears were pointed, like an elf. 

He was also holding Hunk’s bass, and Lance’s guitar. 

“What have you done with my friends!” Keith demanded, raising his fists in front of his face defensively._ Aggressively. _ He was about one second from giving into his screaming _ fight _ instinct. 

The man made some noises that were utter gibberish, and at Keith’s confused expression, he sighed, and held out the instruments to him. Utterly confused, Keith instinctively took them, and with his newly free hands, the man tapped at something on his wrist.

“—should do it, is the translator working now?” 

“W-what?”

“Oh dear, I suppose it isn’t—”

“No, I understood, what have you done with my friends?!” Keith demanded. 

“Oh, of course. You’ll want to join them.” He pulled what looked like a gun out of nowhere, and pointed it at Keith. 

“You’ll see them in just a moment.” 

“What?_ Wai _—” 

There was a blinding flash of light, unbearable, crushing pressure, and then he hit the ground with concussive force. 

“Keith!” four voices cried out in unison.

“Oh no, he’s gonna drop them—” 

His legs were jelly, but luckily there were arms ready to catch him when they gave out.

“G-guys?” Hunk was on his left, and Lance was on his right, holding him steady, while Shiro crouched in front of him, brushing his hair aside to look into his face. Pidge hovered behind Shiro, peering at Keith over his shoulder, holding the instruments. They were inside a white room with grey accents and faintly humming blue lights. 

“Pidge—your _ house— _” Keith struggled in their grip, trying to stand on his own, even as his head spun and stomach lurched.

“Take it easy, you’ll make yourself sick,” Shiro said softly. 

“Yeah, I barfed,” Hunk volunteered. “The nausea should wear off soon though.” 

“Where are we? What happened?” 

“I think… I think they heard us,” Pidge replied tremulously. “This is all my fault.” 

“You couldn’t have known. Besides, they haven’t hurt us.” Shiro wrapped a comforting arm around her thin shoulders. 

“_ Yet _,” Hunk said.

Keith and Lance looked at each other, and then looked at Hunk with matching unimpressed looks. “What?” he said defensively. 

Suddenly, a door at the opposite end of the room swished open, and they all froze. Keith forced himself to stand up straight, and shrugged off Lance and Hunk, subtly stepping forwards to put himself in front. Shiro pushed Pidge behind him. 

The person who walked through the door looked like a human woman, but just like the man with the orange moustache, there was something _ off _. She was very beautiful—warm dark skin, cascading silver hair, but her ears were pointed, and she had pink marks on her cheeks. 

“Welcome! We’re so pleased to have you here,” she said warmly. 

“...You’re… _ pleased? _ To have _ us?” _ Shiro spoke slow and disbelievingly, but the same question was on all their minds. 

“Yes! We were very excited to receive your transmission because there has never been an entry from this quadrant of the universe. In fact, until we received your submission, this area was marked as dead space on most charts.”

“Entry?” Lance piped up.

“Dead?” Hunk gulped.

“Yes, your entry was very impressive. Unlike anything we’d ever heard, and the vote was unanimous, despite the unorthodox submission method. You’re lucky Coran—the sound master—was able to convert your files into the appropriate format. Something to keep in mind for next time—”

“Lady, we don’t know who you are, or what you’re talking about.” Keith didn’t need the look Lance threw him to know he sounded rude, but in his opinion, _ abducting people from their houses _ was rude _ . _

Her face twisted in confusion. “But you entered the tournament?” 

“What tournament?” said Keith bluntly. 

“The Intergalactic Music Quest. We brought you here for your prize because you won.” 

“We _ won?” _Pidge cried, at the same time Lance blurted, “we get a prize?” 

“Yes, you will perform for the universe.”

The door swished open again, and orange moustache appeared.

“Princess Allura, stage is set, cameras are on standby, just awaiting the talent.” 

“Thank you, Coran.” As quickly as he had appeared, orange moustache—Coran—disappeared. 

“I apologize for the miscommunication, it must have been frightening to be brought here without understanding why. It was an honest mistake. If you wish to return you home, I shall send you immediately, but I would urge you all to_ please _, consider performing.” 

They all exchanged glances, and there was a moment of contemplative silence. Keith was the one to break it. “Let’s do it.”

_ We’re from Earth, and we’re gonna play a song for you… _

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the [Serendipity Zine](https://serendipity-zine.tumblr.com/post/188496637784/it-is-time-for-left-over-sales-hi-all-thanks-to), a zine focusing on Keith in AUs, which I had a great time participating in! 
> 
> Feel free to imagine Keith and co. performing any song you like, but I imagined them playing either ['Don't Dream It's Over'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9gKyRmic20) or maybe ['Here Comes The Sun'.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQetemT1sWc) :) 
> 
> Let me know what song you thought of :)
> 
> You can find me [here](https://greenteafiend.tumblr.com/) on tumblr or [here](https://twitter.com/greenteafiend1) on twitter :)


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